The biggest change is the reduction of Stamina costs for Story Missions down to 10 Stamina (rather than the 24~25 Stamina some of the most recent ones take), and an expanded Barracks (literally everyone gets +100 capacity for free).

The new banners are nice, especially the Legendary Hero one for an 8% focus initial pull rate, no possibilty of a pity breaker, and some reruns on older event characters (specifically Bride Caeda, Bride Cordelia, Bunny Camilla and Bunny Xander) for a total of 12 focus units (the others are Brave Ike, Deirdre, Celica, Genny, Brave Lyn, Ayra, Hector and Fjorm (who is the latest FEH OC and also comes for free when you clear Book 2 Chapter 1). Added characters are Mia, Lute, and Mr. Poisoned Mutton for the CYL runner-ups Banner, with Joshua as the next T_T reward (perhaps a Sacred Stones themed one then; excellent, because I have both Eirika and Ephraim, along with Valter and literally no one else from the previous SS banner; alternatively a CYL themed one but that only covers seven of the 8 slots and they'll need a T_T banner as well).

Staff users also suck less now due to staffs gaining a second tier along with recovery assists (doesn't sound like they did anything for the damage reduction though; but now you have Fear+ with 12 Mt instead of 5 and inflicts -7 Atk over a 2-panel AoE centered around the target, so maybe its for the best), as do several Specials (specifically the AoE ones, Vanilla Astra, Night Sky, Glimmer, Daylight Sol and Noontime all had their cooldown cut by 1).

Whoever called weapon forging nailed it on the head (too bad this one's for the whales).

I like that the list of upgradeable weapons includes Thoron+ (since nobody has Thoron+...yet...), and how the segment ended with a bunch of different weapon bearing heroes circling Feh ala FE4's opening (although does that mean that Feh is secretly evil? nah). Other items of interest is that Prfs such as Sol Katti (because Desperation/Wrath/Brash Assault Lyn wasn't busted enough?), Mystletainn (he needed it), Siegmund (lol, poor Eirika), Hauteclere (suddenly upgrading Michalis turned out to be a good idea), Fujin Yumi (your timing couldn't have been better Tomara) and Deathly Dagger are all getting buffs (what? no Siegline or Binding Blade?), while other weapons can be upgraded into advanced forms such as Eliwood's Durandal becoming Brave Roy's Blazing Durandal, and Tyfing, Aura, Excalibur and Naga into their Divine/Dark forms, along with more normal stuffs getting upgrades (basically stat bonuses) and evolutions (such as Killing+ Weapons becoming Slaying+, Effective Weapons like Hammer+ becoming Slaying Hammer+, and Colorwolf+ becoming Keen Colorwolf+).

Basically, everything but Falchions, Braves, Blade Tomes and Raven Tomes, and Dragonstones are getting buffed one way or another.

Nothing about Christmas banner yet, but the new OC is Ice themed and there's more story chapters, so it totes counts.

Well, uh, I did give him a Brave Bow+ yesterday. Depending on the nature of the upgrade, that may have been a 20000 feather mistake.

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(perhaps a Sacred Stones themed one then; excellent, because I have both Eirika and Ephraim, along with Valter and literally no one else from the previous SS banner; alternatively a CYL themed one but that only covers seven of the 8 slots and they'll need a T_T banner as well).

I'm willing to bet on a Sacred Stones one as well, but the bonus character options have me worried. Watch them make Eirika a 1,2x bonus unit just because they can...

Oh well, slower rewards mean more SP. I think I'll put Soren on the team for Lunatic runs, and Takumi (with Fujin Yumi and Close Counter) on the autobattle one.

Meanwhile, my freebie pull for the newest banner netted me a 4 star Arthur, my second pull netted me a Mia (traits unknown at this time; according to a source I found online, mines is +Res/++Atk?), and finally a 4 star Adult Tiki to send 4 to the ferryman for letting me cross the River Styx in one go (the other two orbs were colorless).

Either way, I'm done again (more Orbs for the Spring Camilla redemption zone I suppose), and better still, I will not want for T_T multipliers this time. Mwhahahahaha!

After the VG, I'd build a Shanna if I had one with decent IVs. I've pulled like 20+ of her and I don't have one with good IVs yet.

As for all the new info, I myself only just 5*'d an Adult Tiki so I could inherit Lightning Breath+ onto Ninian. Dragon breaths are included on the forging list so it would suck if Light Breath +∞ ended up being way better. I doubt anything it'd give would outdo the flexibility of Distant Counter though. Plus Lightning Breath is on the forging list anyway.

Same deal with Taco Meat with a Brave Bow. I doubt Brave weapons will get outdated despite not being on the forging list, especially with someone like Takumi where his original weapon had a nigh-useless effect on it. Pass has limited use even on the only units that can get some use out of it (Cavalry) so I'd say at worst you'll just have a more flexible Takumi to play with.

Also for Christmas, wasn't there a Christmas-themed Robin and Tharja mined from the game a long while back? They've probably been planning the Christmas banner for a while.

Anyway since the TT will probably have these 3 heroes as the 40%, I decided to pull. I want Mutton Man anyway since he has a DC Axe because Pugi and Helswath aren't popular enough to deserve being in the game. Game wasn't terribly nice to me though, I dumped all my ~120 Orbs and don't have any focus units yet. Did get a couple Barsts for SI which is nice, and I also got a +ATK -SPD Cherche, which I'm debating on upgrading but I don't know if I'd rather wait for a -RES one since she's a common unit (Plus Michalis is getting thrown a bone soon so he might end up being a better investment).

I got pity broken by a Red Orb at one point, which contained the community imploder herself, Ayra. She's +HP -RES which isn't ideal, but at least it's not -ATK or -SPD and I get to keep her decent DEF stat intact. Kind of a bittersweet deal since I really would've rather saved some orbs for the upcoming super ultra banner that contains her anyway. Really hope I can get one of the focus heroes before the TT comes along, then at least I could get a few tries for the banner at the end of month.

I got pity broken by a Red Orb at one point, which contained the community imploder herself, Ayra. She's +HP -RES which isn't ideal, but at least it's not -ATK or -SPD and I get to keep her decent DEF stat intact. Kind of a bittersweet deal since I really would've rather saved some orbs for the upcoming super ultra banner that contains her anyway. Really hope I can get one of the focus heroes before the TT comes along, then at least I could get a few tries for the banner at the end of month.

At least you don't have to pull for Ayra anymore on the next banner, though it sucks you didn't get a focus unit.

The game was pretty nice to me last night. I spent just over 80 Orbs and walked away with Deirdre, (my third) 5* Lukas, and Mia, who was my target this banner. I'm not even sure if I'll even use Mia that much since I have Ayra, and Mia is just Ayra Lite.

Well, if you're trying to get Ike or Celica, you're still 'risking' an Ayra. With three heroes spread out over 8%, the odds of getting the one you want are lower than in most banners. This upcoming banner is mostly great for people who missed out of most of these heroes and the whales who want +10 units and a shitton of fodder. If there's something specific you want (that's not a seasonal unit), it's better to wait for another banner.

In my case, I'll definitely be pulling for red, because:-I could use another red mage and Celica is excellent-Regular Ike and Soren make more sense strategy-wise than Axe Ike and Soren-Ayra is awesome and I don't have her yet3/3 - please take my orbs!

But blue is:-Some stupid looking blue mage I have no use for other than filling up the catalogue-An even more stupid looking lance user whose only value is memes-A unit we'll be getting for free eventually0/3 - not worth it.

Green however:-Deidre is yet another Reinhardt counter and you can't have too many of those-Hector = heck yes!-I already have a Spring Camilla and that's plenty2/3 - pretty nice, but not the highest priority

And colourless:-I already have a Brave Lyn and I don't feel the need to create a monster-Bridelia is technically one of the best archers, but Klein and Takumi (and Leon, eventually) are all I need-I wouldn't mind a Genny (but I imagine she'll pop up in another banner after the 'make healers suck less' update arrives)1/3 (at best) - meh

Right now, my priority for the Legendary banner is everything but colorless, because I already have all of those (although a Bridelia with a trait that isn't -Spd would be nice (as long as it also isn't -Atk instead), but my Bowling Orange Fluffy Sheep are both Neutral which is perfectly serviceable to me), and because I literally do not have anyone else on that list right now. Also they confirmed that it is indeed Ike, not Bike.

Specific priorities for colors are Blue, Green and Red:Blue: Having both a Neutral and Trait having Fjorm could be interesting to throw at the arena or quests that specifically request her, while Bunny Xander has regained a new lease on life due to Badges becoming relevant again. Caeda's there, but she's a second Event exclusive unit so gunning for her and Bunny Xander is still a pretty solid option for me.Green: I have Nowitch so S.Camilla isn't as useful or relevant to me anymore, but for completion sake, I wouldn't mind fishing for her (not whaling though). And likewise, I have Sonya and Cecilia so Deirdre isn't a priority right now, while Hector would be nice, even if he's getting long in the tooth (and the Forge update didn't do him any favors).Red: I'm patient and there'll be plenty of banner for them to pity break my heart on. All three would be really good prizes either way though (especially best waifu, Ayra).

That said, as soon as I posted it this morning and walked back to bed, it occurred to me that the discrepancy in regards to my Mia's traits was due to me forgetting to factor her weapon's other built in bonus. In short, she's +Res/-Atk (not hot, but at least a sizable portion of her build is around buffing her DPA, so having naturally low Atk for her isn't the dealbreaker that other units tend to suffer from (yet); at least it patches her biggest weakpoint in Res so she can occasionally take a hit from Magic and not die).

Also, just want to comment on her design as her outfit looks more like a cross between her PoR and RD outfits (and something else altogether; although this is definitely more dominantly PoR than either of the others).

And yeah, I was wrong about them not doing anything for Dragonstones. They just got lost in the sea of crappier weapons gaining a second life.

Edit: There was a BHeB here, its gone now. Cancel Affinity and jacked stats won't save you now Takumi.

I'll probably do full 5-orb rolls for the upcoming 8% banner despite owning a lot of the units, including all the Red ones due to the Ayra I just got. Aside from the chance at a better IV for any units I already own (well, not Celica, I have -HP +SPD on her), they have some nice skills to pass around anyway and merging is always an option.

Been leveling Ayra and goddamn is she strong, even with mediocre IVs. I mean, ultimately she's still a Red Infantry with all the typical weaknesses of one, especially with that laughable RES stat, but it's still dumb how good she is, especially with her busted weapon. She invalidates the majority of Red infantry barring the ones with a Falchion or a DC Sword. Allowing the killing edge scrubs to upgrade their weapon seems like even more of a pittance when it's going to cost you a bunch of the new currency to do so.

Also I steamrolled the new BHB with Team Nino, and proceeded to get two boards with no greens which yielded a 4* Gwendolyn and 4* Tailtiu. Nice to get :D lady so soon after she got demoted, at least.

Also I steamrolled the new BHB with Team Nino, and proceeded to get two boards with no greens which yielded a 4* Gwendolyn and 4* Tailtiu. Nice to get :D lady so soon after she got demoted, at least.

I used Soren because I could. Took some thinking to get his speed up to 45 so he could double Takumi (didn't have a spare Subaki I was willing to sacrifice for this), but I managed and he took out both Takumi and that cavalry mage during the enemy phase. Linde cleaned up most of the other units, while Olivia danced and blocked the green horse unit. BIke was there to support his boyfriend and reposition people to safety.

Then I got a -spd, +res Halloween Jakob. I'm a little sad it wasn't Sakura, but atleast it's a good Jakob.

Now I'm not sure if I should continue pulling while the Halloween banner is still up and aim for a Nowi and Henry, or start saving up for the 8% banner.

Only new banners are Legendary Heroes and Children of Fate (which sounds to be more focused upon FE Fates Gen 2 characters, rather than FE4's Gen 2 characters, especially when its referred to in JP as Children of Black and White; so most likely Seigbert, Shiro, Selkie and Soleil). No word yet on any Christmas/Holiday Banner though (even though we all know its coming) or what late December's getting.

Meanwhile, we've got two more ReGHeBs for Michalis and Berkut and a BHeB for Tana and Amelia, so nothing exciting on that front (at least the BHeB is new). While the next T_T is focused upon the current Farfetched Banner (that or villainous/antagonist characters since 'less-than-heroic' could mean that too, they could be our 20% units; either way, its not TSS focused so Eirika and Ephraim are out in the cold on this one), and the next VG travesty is going to be centered around couples (my bet for winner will be Clive).

So in short, unless the Book 2 update itself drops a bunch of new Chapters and characters on us for our Common draw pool to swell upon, this looks rather anemic.

The theme of the new T_T makes no sense (Brave Heroes as mostly 1.2x bonus units?), but I appreciate that IntSys is sticking to my plan. I was planning on adding Soren to the Lunatic 7 team to get him some more SP, and that just became easier thanks to BIke being a 1,4x bonus unit. Plus, BIke still has plenty of HM left to gain, so that's nice too.

So we're finally getting a Normal Fateswakening Banner, angering Radiant Dawn and Thracia 776 fans everywhere. Given the name it'll probably be half Nohr and half Hoshido kids, though if they go purely by popularity it would pretty much be flooded with just Nohr kids. I'd guess Forrest has a good chance at making it in since he's a combination of being pretty popular and being a major character's child, same with Shiro. The former would also find good timing in that we're close to staffbots getting buffed. Selkie is the most popular child character as I recall, but I do wonder if they'll go ahead and add in their first beast character this way.

The reveal of the bonus characters for the TT will teach me to be so hasty on spending my orbs, since I already have a BIke to fill my multiplier needs. It's compounded by the fact that the 8% banner will only last a week, meaning I can't funnel a lot of the upcoming free orbs into it. At least that means if I end up getting pity broken out of a mutton man by Merric or some shit I still have a safety net available though.

Oh well. Did free rolls on the BHB and TT banners and got a 4* Shanna and 3* Hinata. More SI sacrifices!

And hell, even if you did get pity broken by Merric, you could always take stock in the fact that you can evolve his Prf into Sonya's Prf which would be marginally better for him (the Wo Dao +10 Dmg effect is more useful to him than having to try to turn his pitiful Atk rating into something usable with Effective magic damage off of enemies with stacked Res; of course you really do need to swap his Special to get anything out of that).

The Brave Unit thing would've pissed me off if it had been either Bowlin or Eliroy who got the 40% role (makes my luck with Mia redundant on top of burning it away from the Legendary Banner), but I'll live with this (it'd be nice if I could pull a Bike or Lancina instead for training purposes and color diversity). At the very least, I'll take this over having an entire Banner to pull one 40% character out of three potential Banner units, one of whom shares the same color as the new one.

As for Fates Gen2 Banner, neither Fates nor Awakening have had any honest to god additions to their rosters since Day 1. Whereas Thracia has the Dire Thunder siblings, and even Radiant Dawn has Sanaki (for whatever she's worth), while only Charlotte, Inigo and Shigure have been kinda sorta added through Event Banners (maybe). Granted, I'd rather have FE4 Gen 2, Thracia or even some Tellus units, but it'd also be nice if they would turn around and make some more Event banner units for some of the older games (Christmas Banner coming up? Cain and Abel in Red and Green Elf costumes, wielding a Candy Cane and a Nativity Set respectfully (because Cane and Stable :V); Eldigan, wielder of the legendary Mistletoe Axe; and Sexy Santa Lyn because every Event Banner requires one of her, Lucina, an Avatar or a Fates Royal).

And while I previously posted my thoughts on potential additions, I listed Selkie who wouldn't fly under FEH's current rule set. So my new picks would be either Shiro, Kiragi, Soleil and Ophelia (mix of genders and nationalities and sticks to relatively popular units, avoids Awakening repeats and gives some okay diversity) or Kanas M & F, Dwyer and Sophie (because also gender equality and totally nation neutral, plus color balance if you give Male Kana a Green Dragonstone and Female Kana Divine Yato; but you're not exactly lighting up the board with popularity).

As for Free pulls, I got a 4 star Matthew on BHeB Banner and a 4 star Raven on T_T Banner. Better keep my luck frosty for the Legendary Banner (plus I feel that 50%'s a good stopping number of Banner pulls, especially since the Legendary's Event Repeats are 75% missed units on top of the overall 66% of available Banner units once the Christmas Queen becomes available).